Picks and Pans Review: Roadie

Travis W. Redfish likes his beer straight from the pitcher and prefers Milk Duds casseroles to health salads. He's just a good ole boy from Texas, who also happens to be "the world's greatest roadie," a dubious distinction if ever there was one. (A roadie, in case you've forgotten, is a rock functionary who drives semis, sets up equipment, runs errands and bounces overzealous fans for touring musicians.) As portrayed by rock heavy Meat Loaf, Redfish is pure delight, innocent and irresistible; in his first starring role he doesn't sing a note and still steals the movie. Not that there's much to steal. Coyly billed as "the story of a boy and his equipment," the movie has plenty of paraphernalia, but no notion of how to use it. Director Alan (Welcome to L.A.) Rudolph has signed on Hank Williams Jr., Alice Cooper and Blondie to lend musical authenticity, yet there is no semblance of a story line, apart from an unlikely love affair between Loaf and a tiresome groupie, Kaki Hunter. "Everything works if you let it" is a recurring slogan in the script, but this movie suggests at least one exception. (PG)